March262013

If someone calls you a pussy, a word derived from Pusillanimous, then it means lacking courage or resolution; cowardly; faint-hearted; timid.

However, if someone calls you a pussy and referring to a woman’s vagina, then smack and beat the shit out of that person :-)

February252013

Common Writing Mistakes

amandaonwriting:

Benjamin Dreyer is the VP Executive Managing Editor & Copy Chief of Random House Publishing Group. Below is his list of the common stumbling blocks for authors, from A to X. 

  • One buys antiques in an antiques store from an antiques dealer; an antique store is a very old store.
  • He stayed awhile; he stayed for a while.
  • Besides is other than; beside is next to.
  • The singular of biceps is biceps; the singular of triceps is triceps. There’s no such thing as a bicep; there’s no such thing as a tricep.
  • A blond man, a blond woman; he’s a blond, she’s a blonde.
  • A capital is a city (or a letter, or part of a column); a capitol is a building.
  • Something centres on something else, not around it.
  • If you’re talking about a thrilling plot point, the word is climactic; if you’re discussing the weather, the word is climatic.
  • A cornet is an instrument; a coronet is a crown.
  • One emigrates from a place; one immigrates to a place.
  • The word is enmity, not emnity.
  • One goes to work every day, or nearly, but eating lunch is an everyday occurrence.
  • A flair is a talent; a flare is an emergency signal.
  • A flier is someone who flies planes; a flyer is a piece of paper.
  • Flower bed, not flowerbed.
  • Free rein, not free reign.
  • To garner is to accumulate, as a waiter garners tips; to garnish (in the non-parsley meaning) is to take away, as the government garnishes one’s wages; a garnishee is a person served with a garnishment; to garnishee is also to serve with a garnishment (that is, it’s a synonym for “to garnish”).
  • A gel is a jelly; it’s also a transparent sheet used in stage lighting. When Jell-O sets, or when one’s master plan takes final form, it either jells or gels (though I think the former is preferable).
  • Bears are grizzly; crimes are grisly. Cheap meat, of course, is gristly.
  • Coats go on hangers; planes go in hangars.
  • One’s sweetheart is “hon,” not “hun,” unless one’s sweetheart is Attila (not, by the way, Atilla) or perhaps Winnie-the-Pooh (note hyphens).
  • One insures cars; one ensures success; one assures people.
  • Lawn mower, not lawnmower.
  • The past tense of lead is led, not lead.
  • One loathes someone else but is loath to admit one’s distaste.
  • If you’re leeching, you’re either bleeding a patient with a leech or otherwise sucking someone’s or something’s lifeblood. If you’re leaching, you’re removing one substance from another by means of a percolating liquid (I have virtually no idea what that means; I trust that you do).
  • You wear a mantle; your fireplace has a mantel.
  • Masseurs are men; masseuses are women. Many otherwise extremely well educated people don’t seem to know this; I have no idea why. (These days they’re all called massage therapists anyway.)
  • The short version of microphone is still, so far as RH is concerned, mike. Not, ick, “mic.” [2009 update: I seem to be losing this battle. Badly. 2010 update: I’ve lost. Follow the author’s lead.]
  • There’s no such word as moreso.
  • Mucus is a noun; mucous is an adjective.
  • Nerve-racking, not -wracking; racked with guilt, not wracked with guilt.
  • One buys a newspaper at a newsstand, not a newstand.
  • An ordinance is a law; ordnance is ammo.
  • Palette has to do with colour; palate has to do with taste; a pallet is, among other things, something you sleep on. Eugene Pallette was a character actor; he’s particularly good in the 1943 film Heaven Can Wait.
  • Noun wise, a premier is a diplomat; a premiere is something one attends. “Premier” is also, of course, an adjective denoting quality.
  • That which the English call paraffin (as in “paraffin stove”), we Americans call kerosene. Copy editors should keep an eye open for this in mss. by British authors and query it. The term paraffin should generally be reserved for the waxy, oily stuff we associate with candles.
  • Prophecy is a noun; prophesy is a verb.
  • Per Web 11, it’s restroom.
  • The Sibyl is a seeress; Sybil is Basil Fawlty’s wife.
  • Please don’t mix somewhat and something into one murky modifier. A thing is somewhat rare, or it’s something of a rarity.
  • A tick bites; a tic is a twitch.
  • Tortuous is twisty, circuitous, or tricky; torturous is painful, or painfully slow.
  • Transsexual, not transexual.
  • Troops are military; troupes are theatrical.
  • A vice is depraved; a vise squeezes.
  • Vocal cords; strikes a chord.
  • A smart aleck is a wise guy; a mobster is a wiseguy.
  • X ray is a noun; X-ray is a verb or adjective.
February42013
“Tell me what’s the difference
between hope and waiting
because my heart doesn’t know
it constantly cuts itself on the glass of waiting
it constantly gets lost in the fog of hope”     Anna Kamienska, translated by Grazyna Drabik and David Curzon, “Difference”
January292013
nevver: Douglas Adams

nevver:

Douglas Adams
January282013

100 Facial Expressions

1. Absent: preoccupied
2. Agonized: as if in pain or tormented
3. Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire
4. Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest
5. Beatific: see blissful
6. Bilious: ill-natured
7. Black: angry or sad, or see hostile
8. Bleak: see grim and hopeless
9. Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern
10. Blissful: showing a state of happiness or divine contentment
11. Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent
12. Brooding: see anxious and gloomy
13. Bug eyed: frightened or surprised
14. Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed
15. Cheeky: cocky, insolent
16. Cheerless: sad
17. Choleric: hot-tempered, irate
18. Coy: flirtily playful, or evasive
19. Crestfallen: see despondent
20. Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings
21. Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor
22. Dejected: see despondent
23. Derisive: see sardonic
24. Despondent: depressed or discouraged
25. Doleful: sad or afflicted
26. Dour: stern or obstinate; see also despondent
27. Downcast: see despondent
28. Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing
29. Ecstatic: delighted or entranced
30. Etched: see fixed
31. Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible
32. Fixed: concentrated or immobile
33. Furtive: stealthy
34. Gazing: staring intently
35. Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive
36. Glaring: see hostile
37. Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion
38. Gloomy: see despondent and sullen
39. Glowering: annoyed or angry
40. Glowing: see radiant
41. Grim: see despondent; also, fatalistic or pessimistic
42. Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness
43. Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty
44. Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism
45. Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant
46. Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit
47. Impassive: see deadpan
48. Inscrutable: mysterious, unreadable
49. Jeering: insulting or mocking
50. Languid: lazy or weak
51. Leering: see meaningful; also, sexually suggestive
52. Meaningful: to convey an implicit connotation or shared secret
53. Mild: easygoing
54. Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful
55. Moody: see sullen
56. Pained: affected with discomfort or pain
57. Pallid: see wan
58. Peering: with curiosity or suspicion
59. Peeved: annoyed
60. Petulant: see cheeky and peeved
61. Pitying: sympathetic
62. Pleading: seeking apology or assistance
63. Pouting: see sullen
64. Quizzical: questioning or confused
65. Radiant: bright, happy
66. Roguish: see mischievous
67. Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident
68. Sardonic: mocking
69. Scornful: contemptuous or mocking
70. Scowling: displeased or threatening
71. Searching: curious or suspicious
72. Set: see fixed
73. Shamefaced: ashamed or bashful
74. Slack-jawed: dumbfounded or surprised
75. Sly: cunning; see also furtive and mischievous
76. Snarling: surly
77. Sneering: see scornful
78. Somber: see grave
79. Sour: unpleasant
80. Stolid: inexpressive
81. Straight-faced: see deadpan
82. Sulky: see sullen
83. Sullen: resentful
84. Taunting: see jeering
85. Taut: high-strung
86. Tense: see taut
87. Tight: see pained and taut
88. Unblinking: see fixed
89. Vacant: blank or stupid looking
90. Veiled: see inscrutable
91. Wan: pale, sickly; see also faint
92. Wary: cautious or cunning
93. Wide eyed: frightened or surprised
94. Wild eyed: excited, frightened, or stressful
95. Wistful: yearning or sadly thoughtful
96. Withering: devastating; see also wrathful
97. Woeful: full of grief or lamentation
98. Wolfish: see leering and mischievous
99. Wrathful: indignant or vengeful
100. Wry: twisted or crooked to express cleverness or a dark or ironic feeling

source: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/100-words-for-facial-expressions/

10PM

55 Words to Describe Someone’s Voice

writinghelpers:

I was sitting on the computer last night trying to be productive and actually write something. My first sentence included the character listening to a voice through an intercom and my first thought was, “What kind of voice is it?” 

So, naturally, I found myself googling the different ways to describe a voice. I present to you my findings! I hope you all find it useful. 

  • adenoidal (adj): if someone’s voice is adenoidal, some of the sound seems to come through their nose
  • appealing (adj): an appealing look/voice shows that you want help, approval, or agreement
  • breathy (adj): with loud breathing noises
  • brittle (adj): if you speak in a brittle voice, you sound as if you are about to cry
  • croaky (adj): if someone’s voice sounds croaky, they speak in a low, rough voice that sounds as if they have a sore throat
  • dead (adj): if someone’s eyes or voice are dead, they feel or show no emotion
  • disembodied (adj): a disembodied voice comes from someone who you cannot see
  • flat (adj): spoken in a voice that does not go up and down; this word is often used for describing the speech of people from a particular region

Read More

December202012
“I desire that we be better strangers” William Shakespeare
12AM
“if your brains were dynamite there wouldn’t be enough to blow your hat off” Kurt Vonnegut
December32012
“Write to write. Write because you need to write. Write to settle the rage within you. Write with an internal purpose. Write about something or someone that means so much to you, that you don’t care what others think.”     Nick Miller’s “Isn’t It Pretty To Think So?”
November202012
amandaonwriting: 100 Beautiful and Ugly Words by Mark Nichol One of the many fascinating features of our language is how often words with pleasant associations are also quite pleasing on the tongue and even to the eye, and how many words, by contrast, acoustically and visually corroborate their disagreeable nature — look no further than the heading for this post.Enrich the poetry of your prose by applying words that provide precise connotation while also evoking emotional responses Beautiful Words Amorphous: indefinite, shapeless Beguile: deceive Caprice: impulse Cascade: steep waterfall Cashmere: fine, delicate wool Chrysalis: protective covering Cinnamon: an aromatic spice; its soft brown color Coalesce: unite, or fuse Crepuscular: dim, or twilit Crystalline: clear, or sparkling Desultory: half-hearted, meandering Diaphanous: gauzy Dulcet: sweet Ebullient: enthusiastic Effervescent: bubbly Elision: omission Enchanted: charmed Encompass: surround Enrapture: delighted Ephemeral: fleeting Epiphany: revelation Epitome: embodiment of the ideal Ethereal: celestial, unworldly, immaterial Etiquette: proper conduct Evanescent: fleeting Evocative: suggestive Exuberant: abundant, unrestrained, outsize Felicity: happiness, pleasantness Filament: thread, strand Halcyon: care-free Idyllic: contentedly pleasing Incorporeal: without form Incandescent: glowing, radiant, brilliant, zealous Ineffable: indescribable, unspeakable Inexorable: relentless Insouciance: nonchalance Iridescent: luster Languid: slow, listless Lassitude: fatigue Lilt: cheerful or buoyant song or movement Lithe: flexible, graceful Lullaby: soothing song Luminescence: dim chemical or organic light Mellifluous: smooth, sweet Mist: cloudy moisture, or similar literal or virtual obstacle Murmur: soothing sound Myriad: great number Nebulous: indistinct Opulent: ostentatious Penumbra: shade, shroud, fringe Plethora: abundance Quiescent: peaceful Quintessential: most purely representative or typical Radiant: glowing Redolent: aromatic, evocative Resonant: echoing, evocative Resplendent: shining Rhapsodic: intensely emotional Sapphire: rich, deep bluish purple Scintilla: trace Serendipitous: chance Serene: peaceful Somnolent: drowsy, sleep inducing Sonorous: loud, impressive, imposing Spherical: ball-like, globular Sublime: exalted, transcendent Succulent: juicy, tasty, rich Suffuse: flushed, full Susurration: whispering Symphony: harmonious assemblage Talisman: charm, magical device Tessellated: checkered in pattern Tranquility: peacefulness Vestige: trace Zenith: highest point Ugly Words Cacophony: confused noise Cataclysm: flood, catastrophe, upheaval Chafe: irritate, abrade Coarse: common, crude, rough, harsh Cynical: distrustful, self-interested Decrepit: worn-out, run-down Disgust: aversion, distaste Grimace: expression of disgust or pain Grotesque: distorted, bizarre Harangue: rant Hirsute: hairy Hoarse: harsh, grating Leech: parasite, Maladroit: clumsy Mediocre: ordinary, of low quality Obstreperous: noisy, unruly Rancid: offensive, smelly Repugnant: distasteful Repulsive: disgusting Shriek: sharp, screeching sound Shrill: high-pitched sound Shun: avoid, ostracize Slaughter: butcher, carnage Unctuous: smug, ingratiating Visceral: crude, anatomically graphic Notice how often attractive words present themselves to define other beautiful ones, and note also how many of them are interrelated, and what kind of sensations, impressions, and emotions they have in common. Also, try enunciating beautiful words as if they were ugly, or vice versa. Are their sounds suggestive of their quality, or does their meaning wholly determine their effect on us? From Writers Write

amandaonwriting:

100 Beautiful and Ugly Words

by Mark Nichol

One of the many fascinating features of our language is how often words with pleasant associations are also quite pleasing on the tongue and even to the eye, and how many words, by contrast, acoustically and visually corroborate their disagreeable nature — look no further than the heading for this post.
Enrich the poetry of your prose by applying words that provide precise connotation while also evoking emotional responses

Beautiful Words

  • Amorphous: indefinite, shapeless
  • Beguile: deceive
  • Caprice: impulse
  • Cascade: steep waterfall
  • Cashmere: fine, delicate wool
  • Chrysalis: protective covering
  • Cinnamon: an aromatic spice; its soft brown color
  • Coalesce: unite, or fuse
  • Crepuscular: dim, or twilit
  • Crystalline: clear, or sparkling
  • Desultory: half-hearted, meandering
  • Diaphanous: gauzy
  • Dulcet: sweet
  • Ebullient: enthusiastic
  • Effervescent: bubbly
  • Elision: omission
  • Enchanted: charmed
  • Encompass: surround
  • Enrapture: delighted
  • Ephemeral: fleeting
  • Epiphany: revelation
  • Epitome: embodiment of the ideal
  • Ethereal: celestial, unworldly, immaterial
  • Etiquette: proper conduct
  • Evanescent: fleeting
  • Evocative: suggestive
  • Exuberant: abundant, unrestrained, outsize
  • Felicity: happiness, pleasantness
  • Filament: thread, strand
  • Halcyon: care-free
  • Idyllic: contentedly pleasing
  • Incorporeal: without form
  • Incandescent: glowing, radiant, brilliant, zealous
  • Ineffable: indescribable, unspeakable
  • Inexorable: relentless
  • Insouciance: nonchalance
  • Iridescent: luster
  • Languid: slow, listless
  • Lassitude: fatigue
  • Lilt: cheerful or buoyant song or movement
  • Lithe: flexible, graceful
  • Lullaby: soothing song
  • Luminescence: dim chemical or organic light
  • Mellifluous: smooth, sweet
  • Mist: cloudy moisture, or similar literal or virtual obstacle
  • Murmur: soothing sound
  • Myriad: great number
  • Nebulous: indistinct
  • Opulent: ostentatious
  • Penumbra: shade, shroud, fringe
  • Plethora: abundance
  • Quiescent: peaceful
  • Quintessential: most purely representative or typical
  • Radiant: glowing
  • Redolent: aromatic, evocative
  • Resonant: echoing, evocative
  • Resplendent: shining
  • Rhapsodic: intensely emotional
  • Sapphire: rich, deep bluish purple
  • Scintilla: trace
  • Serendipitous: chance
  • Serene: peaceful
  • Somnolent: drowsy, sleep inducing
  • Sonorous: loud, impressive, imposing
  • Spherical: ball-like, globular
  • Sublime: exalted, transcendent
  • Succulent: juicy, tasty, rich
  • Suffuse: flushed, full
  • Susurration: whispering
  • Symphony: harmonious assemblage
  • Talisman: charm, magical device
  • Tessellated: checkered in pattern
  • Tranquility: peacefulness
  • Vestige: trace
  • Zenith: highest point

Ugly Words

  • Cacophony: confused noise
  • Cataclysm: flood, catastrophe, upheaval
  • Chafe: irritate, abrade
  • Coarse: common, crude, rough, harsh
  • Cynical: distrustful, self-interested
  • Decrepit: worn-out, run-down
  • Disgust: aversion, distaste
  • Grimace: expression of disgust or pain
  • Grotesque: distorted, bizarre
  • Harangue: rant
  • Hirsute: hairy
  • Hoarse: harsh, grating
  • Leech: parasite,
  • Maladroit: clumsy
  • Mediocre: ordinary, of low quality
  • Obstreperous: noisy, unruly
  • Rancid: offensive, smelly
  • Repugnant: distasteful
  • Repulsive: disgusting
  • Shriek: sharp, screeching sound
  • Shrill: high-pitched sound
  • Shun: avoid, ostracize
  • Slaughter: butcher, carnage
  • Unctuous: smug, ingratiating
  • Visceral: crude, anatomically graphic

Notice how often attractive words present themselves to define other beautiful ones, and note also how many of them are interrelated, and what kind of sensations, impressions, and emotions they have in common. Also, try enunciating beautiful words as if they were ugly, or vice versa. Are their sounds suggestive of their quality, or does their meaning wholly determine their effect on us?

From Writers Write
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